What is ... a 'sento'?

Savvy travellers have been quick to catch on to the joys of spending time in Japanese onsen - the traditional thermal baths that use natural hot springs and which act as an important social hub for the Japanese. But few visitors have experienced the pleasures of a 'sento', an old public bath house of the kind that relies on tap water rather than natural springs.

These are much cheaper than onsen but are declining fast as Japanese homes are built with their own baths. It is mostly older folk that spend time in the pools and tubs of the sentos, but that makes them a fascinating link to the pre-war era.

Sentos are notoriously hard to find, so stop someone who looks like they have a lot of years under their kimono and ask them, 'Kono chikak uniwa, sento arimasuka?' The government has set the entry price at ¥350, but you might be denied entry if you have a tattoo: they were historically associated with the Japanese mafia. See www.planettokyo.com for more details.